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Well here we are. After only 5 days which felt like a life-time we're finally leaving Berlin. And Ihaven't even blogged about anything we've done. So I'll make a start now.
The flight in was uneventful, so that's enough about that.
We got in and sorted out where we needed to go and how to get there. The transport system here is incredible. You get to a station and wait for a maximum of two minutes before a city train gets in. Then you're away and at your destination. And you need the trains too! This city is insanely big. Apparently about 9 times the size of Paris. You don't really get a feel for that until you decide to walk to your hotel with your packs on. We've walked miles every day. Its worth it though. There's a lot to see everywhere you look.
Talking about sight-seeing, Kate heard that a bike tour was the best way to see it all and she wasn't wrong. Tour started at 11 and we got to ride the cool city bikes around in a big group following our tour guide, a cool English guy, name of Niles (or something). So on this tour we got to see most of what is in the photo album. Kind of a small section of the city to be honest, but lots to see and it took around 6 hours to finish. With a break at a nice beer garden. It was an excellent tour and definately the best way to see the city. Also the weather is amazing! Seeing heaps of awesome motorbikes going about. Really miss my own bike.
So next day we decide to walk around and see the place in more detail. First stop - museum. Kind of boring, but I took pictures of the interesting parts so you'll never have to bother. Lots of sarcophagus' from the tombs in Egypt, which were pretty cool.
The Tiergarten was the highlight of the day though. Was once the private hunting grounds of the big-wigs. Now its open to all and it's beautiful. Spent several hours just walking around. Then discovered another huge beer garden at the end and had a couple. Can't describe how cool the atmosphere is here.
Moving on - We;ve now moved away from our hotel in the west and are staying in an East-side hostel. This is a much different Berlin from what we've seen so far. It seems a lot dirtier (West-side is immaculate) and quite run-down. Slight bad vibes but was willing to give it a go. And its worth it. Its incredibly chilled out here while its the place where all the youth and the less well-off stay. The park is dirty, there's rubbish strewn all over and the grass is very patchy. Even so, we found a place to sit today and just chill in one spot for hours watching everybody. And there was hundreds of people around. Strangely the atmosphere was still great. Heaps of people just having a great and surprisingly quiet time hanging out with friends in the park til the sun goes down. We were glad of the quiet too. Found a great place for drinks last night.
Overall impression. Berlin is awesome. Very bustling with a vibrant nightlife, but peaceful at the same time. You very rarely see police, but where we've been (in the city centre and the party/nightlife centre), there doesn't seem to be much use for them. Everybody's just out to have a good time.
This entry's been far bigger than I intended and I've barely covered anything! I'll try to update with smaller, more regular posts...sorry...
Edit - Instead of using Flickr, I'm going to try to keep the photo section of this blog up to date. Check it out for more recent pics of Berlin so far.
- comments
Sandra Great to read about your first few days!
william Looks cool dude very Jealous